Category: Announcements

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Final Schedule for the 2019-2020 Field Season

This one can be released to the public:

Final Schedule for the 2019-2020  field season:

Oct 17-20, 2019—Mars Society Conference, Los Angeles

Oct 22-25— IKEA Work Party

Crew 214—Oct 26- Nov10— MSA ExBoomerang

Crew 215—Nov 9-24, 2019— MSA ExBoomerang

Crew 216—Nov 23—Dec 8, 2019— A.R.E.S. (Mars Society crew)

Crew 217—Dec 7-14— Spaceward Bound Utah (Utah NASA Space Consortium Grant)

Dec 14-22— Holiday Break

Crew 218—Dec 21, 2019- Jan 5, 2020— Purdue

Crew 219—Jan 4-19 — ARES  (Florida Tech)

Crew 220—Jan 18-Feb 2— Mars Academy

Crew 221—Feb 1-16— Earth 2 Mars

Crew 222—Feb 15-Mar 1 —Supaero I

Crew 223—Feb 29-Mar 15— Supaero II

Crew 224—Mar 14-21—Wilderness Medical Society class

Crew 225—Mar 22-29—University of Colorado 2 Mars class

Crew 226—Mar 28-Apr 12–  Colombia

Crew 227—Apr 11-26—UCL

Crew 228—Apr 25-May 10—Mars Society II

Crew 229—May 9-24—Work Party

May 28-30– University Rover Challenge

Crew 230– June 1-8, 2020— Medical Makers

Crew 231—June 8-15—Martian Biology II

June 22-28—Astronomy Team Summer Residency

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Crew 197 arrives at the MDRS in 10 days!

Crew 197 (VR CrowdExplorers)

Overall Goals of Mission

  1. Create a research whitepaper for using VR to train analog simulation participants.
  2. Pilot out MarsVR Training scenarios and script/enact new scenarios.
  3. Update interior/exterior scans for MarsVR future releases.
  4. Capture video & 360 footage for future promotional videos.
  5. Prepare the station for beginning of field season.
    • Installation of new Donor & Memorial plaques. (James)
    • Start up some plants in the GreenHab.
    • Setup of new HAL workstation & displays. (James)
    • Updates to Internet Router firmware & configuration. (James)
    • Other logistical tasks.

Crew will be IN SIM starting the afternoon of Sol 1 (October 22).

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MDRS Photogrammetry Scans Completed

The MarsVR team has completed their scans of the MDRS facilities and terrain.  Several Matterport 360 walkthoughs are already available, and the team will be working this summer to create the full photo-realistic VR environment for MDRS crew training, that will be put into use for next field season.

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Call for help on VR project – June 19th – 25th

Hi all,
To support the creation of a VR environment for future MDRS crew training and research, we will be conducting scans and drone operations at the MDRS starting on June 19th for around a week.  We’d like to get help from a past crewmember at the MDRS.  Please let us know if you are interested in helping out with our project – we can work out your travel arrangements.  Please forward this to anybody that might be interested in participating.
More info on our project is at: http://marsvr.io

Thanks,

James Burk

Program Manager, MarsVR

marsvr@marssociety.org

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Mars Society launches Kickstarter to fund a VR platform for the MDRS

The Mars Society launched today a Kickstarter campaign to help raise $27,500 for a new open-source virtual reality platform called MarsVR, which will be used for serious research to support the goal of sending humans to the Red Planet.

The MarsVR program will be a unique multi-phase effort designed to pioneer the emerging field of CrowdExploration, which we define as the partnership between the first astronauts on Mars and VR experts and enthusiasts back on Earth. The Mars Society aims to develop a special VR platform to assist with the initial human exploration of Martian landing sites.

Phase 1 of the MarsVR program will focus on designing training simulations for the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, providing direct assistance in preparing MDRS crew members for their analog research and testing. Since every moment at MDRS is valuable, just like actual astronauts working in space, the Mars Society wants its crew members to make the most of their time “on Mars.” Key elements of the platform will also be open-sourced so that the general public can freely make use of it to experience human Mars exploration.

As part of MarsVR, the Mars Society intends to build a high-resolution simulation of the entire MDRS habitat, both inside and out. To complete the experience, Mars Society staff will scan a one-square mile capture of the Mars-like terrain around MDRS using the latest photo-grammetry techniques. Funds raised beyond the $27,500 campaign goal will be used to expand the VR platform beyond the initial one-square mile capture to allow for a broader Mars experience for both crew and members of the public.

For full details about our MarsVR program and how to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign, please visit: MarsVR.io.

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